Ferrying in July 2018, part 9 Prince

Thursday 19th July 2018
I was up and about at 6 a.m. this morning, still at sea on PRINCE. My first call was to the bar for a cappuccino and croissant, and all was well with my world.

Superfast XI heading towards Igoumenitsa

The bell (but for whom does it toll...?)

Looking forward

View from the deck

Looking astern, at ships and mountains

Looking ahead towards the channel where we head to port and Igoumenitsa


We went to Reception and had a pleasant chat with the Chief Steward about the ship. He says the bell is from PRINCE but we are not so sure it is, as different letters seem to be engraved on what we photographed this morning in daylight. We told him about our trip two years ago on the previous PRINCE, when we met the Captain. He said that the captain had retired (which we knew) but that he had brought PRINCE down from Denmark. I said we had met him and he had told us about that and invited us onto the Bridge. The Chief Steward said if and when we came on the ship again we could visit the Bridge. We thanked him very much.

I asked how they had managed to move the lorry that was stuck on the ramp last night and his first reply with a smile was the one word 'Magic'. He then said they had other means, which worked. It was a shame about such a long delay on the first trip of the new ship.

We all shook hands and thanked the Chief Steward and said our goodbyes to him.

The hot sun was blazing down out on deck as we started to head into the narrow channel that would take us into the Greek port of Igoumenitsa. I can still recall one of my first visits there many years ago: that was when we arrived at the unearthly hour of 3.30 a.m. because we needed to connect with another ship sailing from the port early that morning. I put my turquoise-coloured pashmina down on a concrete bench in the terminal, put my head on it and stretched out my body and was instructed to 'go back to sleep for a few more hours'. I did that very easily, as I fell asleep wondering just what on earth I was doing with these new ferry friends...

Calm waters as we neared the quay


Today however we sailed into Igoumenitsa about 7.30 a.m. and disembarked, and walked to sit in the shade of the terminal building facing the harbour. We wanted to wait and see the next arrivals and if we had entered the terminal we could only exit on the far side and not get back onto the quaysides. As usual it was very hot, but the swifts were flying gracefully and tweeting gently over our heads.

Prince, after we had disembarked


Whilst we waited for the BARI to arrive, we watched vehicles disembarking from PRINCE; most of them struggled and we realised that, like last night, the ship's stern ramp is far too short.

Bari arriving, with Cruise Europa further out

Bari turning, ready to come astern

Cruise Europa arriving

Kerkyra Express

Stern view of Bari


Ships seen: Prince, Bari, Kerkyra Express, Cruise Europa, Superfast XI


To be continued...

Ferrying in July 2018 - Part 8, Prince

18th July 2018, p.m.
At the beach near Brindisi

We had booked a local taxi for late afternoon to take us, reluctantly, to the new ferry terminal here at Brindisi. This evening we are to embark on the ship PRINCE; not the one we have sailed on last year, but the ship we knew originally as CESME back in 2007. She was built in 1974, and her gross tonnage is shown as 13,336.

Prince

Her new name

Stern view


She was in port, in her new colours for the Arkoumanis family, the European Seaways owners. She looked freshly painted and gleamed in the sunlight as we checked in. She was previously used as an accommodation ship (WIND AMBITION) and her use on this new service on 12th July from Greece had been delayed due to faulty fuel. As my friends said, with new fuel on board this much-travelled veteran did depart Igoumenitsa the previous evening, and our booked crossing actually became her first departure from Italy. We were happy to be the first passengers on board.

Wind Ambition name on a sign, with an interesting font


They also said she would be instantly recognisable to anyone who knew her as either Norway Line (or Color Line)'s VENUS or DFDS's KING OF SCANDINAVIA. We will be sailing overnight from here in Brindisi over to Igoumenitsa, the coastal port in north-western Greece. It is also across the water from the island of Corfu, with frequent ferries sailing between the two.

It was good to look around this little ship and admire the way the money has been spent to make the newly decorated insides of the ship look good, but there were many reminders of her previous name and use.

Buddha Bar

Buddha

Another part of the lounge

In another part of the lounge was this, what I called a definite 'trip hazard'


All was well until we realised that sailing time had come and gone and the reason was a lorry that was stuck on the stern ramp, half in and half out of the ship. She has the original narrow stern door and we thought that the ramp was in fact too short for the angle needed to get vehicles on to the car deck. It took over an hour to get the lorry on board - goodness knows how!

A life ring out on deck

The funnel

Builder's plate

On the forward deck

The bell

I turned round and this was the view

Beside me was this forward section

A few steps ahead brought this sunny view

Another view of the funnel

Along to the stern


Once we realised we were not going to sail for some time, we headed for a bar and hoped for something alcoholic; that proved to be a problem as the Barman apologised but said that drink supplies had been ordered but had not been put on board. Ah well, it will have to be fruit juice or cola again. Instead we headed for the self-serve restaurant and discovered there was pasta to eat, which didn't immediately look appealing.

We eventually sailed at 9.30 p.m. from Brindisi, heading for Igoumenitsa, here on PRINCE.

Ships seen in Bari: Rigel II, GNV Azzurra
Ships seen in Brindisi: Prince, Eurocargo Catania


To be continued...

SUMMER 2016 - July ferrying Part 10, the final one

Sunday 24th July 2016
I took photographs after our late night Bridge visit here on PRINCE and departure from Igoumenitsa, and of course by that time my camera settings told me it was the next day, i.e. Sunday 24th July, so here are some of those pictures.

Jewel-bright door handles

Scandlines sign

Staircase midships

The toys are still there and may bring back memories to some ferry folk...

Reception

Outside our stern bridge cabin

Bridge cabin door to our balcony


The alarm went off at 5.25 a.m. after what felt like a very short night's sleep. Waking to the sound of the ocean was lovely though, with just an awareness of a barely-audible gentle engine noise in the background.

Looking aft from our balcony, very early in the morning

Looking forward to the Bridge

Life ring

Looking back to our cabin


We made our way along to the Bridge, from our very own original stern bridge accommodation, and the Captain again made us very welcome. We watched the Pilot come on board and were introduced to him when he arrived on the Bridge and then we were able to watch the ship PRINCE prepare to turn and get the ramps down to the quay, here in Brindisi in Italy.

Pilot stepping up

Approaching Brindisi

Nearly there

Prins Joachim bell

Prince's Bridge in port in sunshine

Vastervik arriving at Brindisi


The Captain told us that it had taken us just 16 minutes from the outer harbour entrance to getting the ramp down. That is such a contrast with the VASTERVIK, although we think that her engines and controls are not able to do anything faster. We could see her approaching the quay this morning in fact, and she was certainly faster at getting the ramp down here in Brindisi than she was in Igoumenitsa last night (which took 45 minutes). He also told us that PRINCE has 6 engines but uses 2, and can do 22 knots but does 14 knots usually. He gave us his e-mail address to keep in touch. He lives on a Greek island, has a boat for his enjoyment, and a son working in a London Bank. He also told me that he lectures on stars and celestial ways.

This morning in daylight I could see the charts more clearly (used as a back-up for the modern systems on board) and smell the basil plant being grown in a pot. We also stood on the glass panel in the floor at the end of the internal Bridge wings, looking down many feet to the sea below. I could also see and photograph the bell of the PRINS JOACHIM (built 1980) down on the fo'c's'le deck.

Soon we had to leave the Bridge and thank the Captain of PRINCE, and make plans to pack and take final photographs. The staff on here are really friendly, and obviously enjoy their work because many of them spoke to us as we finally disembarked. Oh, goodbye PRINCE, we didn't have many hours on board but goodness they had been amazing.

The car deck as we left

Our cabin on the starboard side of the old bridge wing

Yesterday's photo of what became our Prince cabin last night


We took a local taxi into the port town and went to Betty's for breakfast. I then went for a walk around the back streets to see the Roman remains. The Roman marble columns of Brindisi were erected in 1st Century BC and reconstructed between the 2nd and 3rd Century AD to overlook the port and are the symbol of the city. Only one remains now, having been damaged during the passing of time, but I was glad to see it.

Walking around Brindisi port promenade

A back street

Another street

Another view

One of the Roman columns

Roman remains, with the castle-like port entrance to be seen in the distance

Further down

Roman column details

Back street view

Betty's, Brindisi

The end of the line in Brindisi, as it is now


Reality and the internet brought us down to earth, as we discovered that most of the Italian trains are on a 24 hour strike today. Plan B was hastily discussed as we made our way up to Brindisi railway station to see if anything was actually running. One long-distance train was running to Milan, two of us bought tickets and raced to another platform to catch it, and caught it with moments to spare. We fell into comfy numbered seats in the air-conditioned carriage and enjoyed over an hour's journey north as we made our way to Bari.

My other friend was hoping to catch an evening train up to Milan, which would probably run, so there were hurried goodbyes at Brindisi as we started to go our separate ways home.

Once in Bari we would relax, find a little local backstreet restaurant for lunch, and get a non-striking train to Bari airport in time to fly home to the UK. We had enjoyed ferrying on many ex-Sealink ships, in Greek and Italian waters, and had many wonderful memories and photographs to take home - how fortunate we each felt.